Simon Ostrovsky

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More than a year after the December 2013 mass attack against journalists at Kiev's Maidan Square, which coincided with the Ukrainian police's violent dispersal of protesters rallying against the policies of then-President Viktor Yanukovych, the press in the beleaguered nation continue the battle for survival. The biggest problem remains impunity in attacks against journalists.

"There are no [independent] Ukrainian journalists left in Donetsk," said Aleksei Matsuka, chief editor of the regional news website Novosti Donbassa (News of Donbass). "They have fled the region since pro-Russia separatists started targeting and kidnapping reporters," Matsuka told CPJ during our brief meeting in Kiev.

New
York, April 29, 2014--At least two journalists who traveled to eastern Ukraine have
been reported missing in the past week, while at least four journalists have
been attacked, according to news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists
is alarmed by the targeting of journalists and media outlets in Ukraine and
calls on all parties to allow them to work freely.

New York, April 25,
2014--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release of two
journalists in eastern Ukraine and calls for the release of a third journalist
who has not been heard from since April 15. Sergei Lefter, reporter for the Warsaw-based Open Dialogue Foundation, is reportedly in custody of pro-Russian separatists led by Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, the self-proclaimed "people's
mayor" of Sloviansk.

New
York, April 23, 2014--Three local and international journalists are missing or being
held hostage in eastern Ukraine, while unidentified assailantsburned
down the offices of a newspaper. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on
Ukrainian authorities to ensure the safety of journalists covering the crisis.

New York, April 22, 2014--The Committee to Protect
Journalists is concerned about the safety of Simon
Ostrovsky, a reporter with the U.S.-based global news channel VICE News,
who is being held in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk. Ostrovsky is in
the custody of pro-Russian separatists led by self-proclaimed "people's mayor"
Vyacheslav Ponomaryov, according to news
reports.